Processing method for vending machine with substitutable magazines
Patent 7660647 Issued on February 9, 2010. Estimated Expiration Date: 
October 8, 2023. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
October 8, 2023. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesRandom selection control system for recording tape cartridges Method and apparatus for vending Automated vending machine system for recorded goods System for managing multiple dispensing units and method of operation Apparatus and methods for monitoring and communicating with a plurality of networked remote vending machines Pivot keypad and dual interface for multiple price and size setting vending machine Method and apparatus for recording usage data of card operated devices Inventory control and remote monitoring apparatus and method for coin-operable vending machines System and method for registering and maintaining field equipment inventory based on individualized equipment and location information System for managing sales of goods for vending machines InventorsApplicationNo. 10682777 filed on 10/08/2003US Classes:700/236Data collection or reporting (e.g., sales, inventory)ExaminersPrimary: Mackey, PatrickAssistant: Butler, Michael E. Attorney, Agent or FirmForeign Patent References
International ClassG07F 17/00DescriptionFIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to vending machines, and more specifically to the type of vending machines with substitutable good-holding magazines. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Disclosed in this application's parent U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,653 Ruskin et al., which patent is specifically incorporated into this specification by this reference, is a type of vending machine using substitutable magazines. The magazines can befilled at a central location then distributed at a number of sites to be substituted for fully or partly expended magazines previously installed in vending machines. The referenced patent teaches a variety of mechanisms for securing the vending machinesand guaranteeing the integrity of the magazine contents during transportation and installation, including the integrity of the currency taken as payments for dispensed goods and accumulated in the magazines. The referenced patent also teaches variousmethods and devices for keeping and processing records of sale transactions. It is well-known in the vending industry that locks and other mechanical security measures are costly, sometimes awkward to operate and not always tamper-proof. A lost key or malfunctioning lock can cause substantial loss of time and necessitatethe intervention of a locksmith. A stolen key can be used by unscrupulous person to get access to the vending machine. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal and secondary objects of this invention are to provide a keyless process for guaranteeing the security of substitutable good-holding magazines used in connection with certain types of vending machines and of their contents; toprovide an accurate and reliable record of all sale transactions; to allow quick and easy reprogramming of menus and prices for the goods available from a machine; and to automate the inventorying of goods and magazines. These and other valuable objects are achieved by using a machine-readable recording medium, preferably a memory chip-mounting smart-card to program the location and prices of goods in a vending machine, to record the sale transactions, includingthe amount of currency collected in connection with a previously installed magazine that is being replaced, and to provide a fool-proof reconciliation between the contents of a returned magazine and those sale transactions. Typically, a service person can visit up to sixty sites where one or more vending machines are being used. A medium-sized service truck can carry up to sixty snack food magazines and a corresponding number of beverage-holding canisters. It hasbeen found that a single smart-card can store enough data to control all the machines on a route, i.e., machines that can be serviced by a truck team in a single day. While such a smart-card is the preferred machine-readable medium in the practice ofthe invention, other media such as palm-held and Internet connected devices can also be advantageously used. It is also possible to use one small-capacity smart-card in association with each magazine. In that case, the card can be physically carried ina slot pocket or other receptacle mounted on the magazine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the machine and magazine processing method according to the invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in FIG. 1, a method for processing and controlling a vending machine operation based on the use of substitutable good-holding magazines that are refilled at a central processing location, thendistributed along assigned routes for installation in vending machines at various users' sites in replacement for totally or partially expended magazines previously installed at those sites. Several embodiments of this type of vending machine aredisclosed in the patent incorporated in this specification. The method assumes and includes maintaining an inventory of salable goods that can be distributed by the vending machines. These goods typically include snack food items and beverages. Machine menus are established 2 that specify what goods are to be loaded in each slot or pigeon hole in a magazine, and at what price each of those goods will be sold. A stock of magazines is kept from which some of them are extracted and filled 3 according to some of the established menus. Each magazine is marked with a machine-readable identification code as well as menu code, preferably in bar code form, aswell as in visually perceptible form. An inventory of such full magazines is maintained 5. A distribution route is established and a number of said full magazines are assigned 6 and appropriately earmarked for distribution along that route. Themagazines, their menus, route assignment and the specific machines into which the magazines are to be installed are combined into a file that is recorded 7 on a memory chip-mounting smart-card for use by the service person assigned to service the route. The set of filled magazines is then transported 8 for installation into vending machines at the various user's sites. Upon arrival at a user's site, the service person introduces a smart-card into the machine card-reading slot in order to enter into the machine 9 a password that will allow opening the machine and getting access to its substitutable, previouslyinstalled magazine. In order to safeguard the security of the machine against misuse of a stolen card, each vending machine is programmed to update its password 10 on a periodical basis, e.g., every evening. The finder of a lost card or an unscrupulousservice person could not return to the site and use an outdated card to get access to the machine and to the currency receptacle of its substitutable magazine. The machines are programmed to compile sales and payment data 11 including the amount of currency that has been received as payment for the distributed goods. According to the teachings of the incorporated patents, the vending machine can acceptpayment via a debit smart-card. It is therefore, critical, that the compilation of the payments provide a clear distinction between payments made by debit smart-card, currency, credit card or by other electronic medium. Debit smart-cards can beconveniently reloaded by depositing currency into the machine. The deposit is instantly credited by a corresponding amount of debitable fund. Accordingly, some of the currency accumulated in a substitutable magazine may not be attributed to the sale ofgoods, but to the reloading of a debit smart-card. After entering the password which allows opening of the vending machine, the sale data accumulated by the vending machine is downloaded 12 onto the service person's smart-card. The downloading of the data associated with the previously installedmagazine, that is being replaced and is to be returned to the processing location terminates the first half of the data processing associated with the magazine substitution. The machine, then, extracts 13 from the smart-card, the menu corresponding tothe magazine that is about to be installed. The machine is now programmed to vend each item in the newly installed magazine upon a payment specified on the down-loaded menu. The menu preferably includes specifications and instructions for selling acombination of two items at a discount price. This feature may be used for promotional purpose, or to enhance sales during periods of low sale activity. The fully or partially expended and previously installed magazine is now replaced 14 with the fullmagazine. The former is returned 15 to the processing location. Upon arrival at the processing location, the contents of the returned magazine is inventoried 16 and reconciled 17 with the sale data recorded on the service person's smart-card. Depending upon the expiration dates of the goods remaining in themagazine, the contents can be removed 18 and the magazine sanitized, or the goods that have been sold can be replaced 19 before the magazine is returned to the full magazine inventory. A magazine that has been emptied and sanitized is available forrefilling 3. The sale data accumulated in the service person's smart-card can also be used, not only to update the salable good inventory, but also to generate 20 statistical sales data which may be useful in planning future magazine loading 3,restocking the salable goods inventory 1 and focusing promotional general marketing activities. For this purpose, the sale data is preferably indexed at the time of each sale with some time-related and location-related references. A simple product control data processing program is advantageously used to integrate the filling of the magazine and the good-selling transaction accounts with the sellable good inventory. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims. |
